Legal News

In November 2013 a solicitor's clerk from Salford Court was imprisoned or six months after being found guilty of contacting a prisoner on a mobile phone.

Sarah McCabe was a clerk for criminal solicitors in Salford Court and would have fully understood the law regarding contact with prisoners. A trial found that she had repeatedly contacted her client on a mobile phone that had been illegally smuggled into the prison for his personal use.

McCabe’s communications with Ryan McDonald were discovered by investigators following his escape from a prison van in Salford in April 2013. He and Stevie McMullen were freed by three masked men, two of whom were armed with guns, as their prison van was travelling through Salford on route to a court hearing.

McCabe had sent McDonald a text message a few days before he escaped from a prison van. While it is not known whether her communication with him had aided those who planned his escape, there is a clear risk that their conversations may have provided them with vital information.

Senior crown prosecutor at Crown Prosecution Service, Elisa Hopley, said: "As a legal representative Sarah McCabe had a duty to uphold the law, but in choosing to communicate with a client on a mobile phone in prison she broke the law.”

Elisa Hopley concluded by stating: "The use of mobile phones in prisons causes real problems with security, bullying and disorder inside prisons and leads to the planning of further criminal activity and to threats and intimidation to the public outside prison.”

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Reade said: "There are routes and channels that legal representatives have to go through when they want to speak to a client.

"Sarah McCabe is a qualified and experienced legal representative who is fully aware of the law in relation to the contacting of clients on contraband phones. It goes without saying she is also fully aware of the consequences and it is therefore surprising that she would take such risks. As a result she has ended up with a criminal conviction, a prison sentence and the prospect of losing a potentially promising career.

"The rules are in place to ensure absolute transparency in the criminal justice system and what this case demonstrates is that the consequences of trying to navigate around the system are severe."

Prisoners’ rights to communicate

So what are the rights of prisoners and their legal workers in this respect and when is communication allowed?

Mobile phones are not allowed in prisons and it is illegal to smuggle them in. Therefore, any calls to or from a prisoner on a mobile are a breach of the law.

Inmates can use a prison phone to speak to family and friends; however, the conversations are often recorded and prison staff can listen in. There is no way for someone outside of prison to call a prisoner. Most prisons now operate a phone PIN system, whereby prisoners put a credit on their phone PIN (using their canteen money); this enables them to call authorised numbers. Today, prisoners often find themselves with fewer people to call as they struggle to remember the numbers stored on their mobile phones.

Prisoners are able to communicate with anyone by traditional mail and while letters from family and friends are often opened and checked by prison staff, communications from solicitors and courts cannot be opened. Some prisons run a service that allows anyone to send emails, which are printed out and handed to the inmate. Prisoners are not permitted to respond to these messages.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors provide legal aid for those in prison and due to stand trial and will always maintain contact with their clients through the authorised channels.